Not only has this year’s Big Give event broken 2017’s record-setting $18 million raised, it has nearly doubled it. Donors raised and leveraged a grand total of $32,588,660 for area nonprofits over the past 32 hours.
“When you think of what our community has gone through over the past several months — from the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our health and jobs, to the pain and suffering felt by those fighting for racial justice — it is almost unimaginable that we would have seen this level of generosity,” stated Columbus Foundation President and CEO Doug Kridler. “What an outstanding community moment. The Big Give 2020 should instill deep pride in all of us.”
This year’s event faced several challenges, including some web server latency issues as over 1,000 donors overloaded the site in the first 60 seconds of the campaign’s launch, followed by thunderstorm power outages and tornado warnings in the region later in the day. Despite those setbacks, the record-setting fundraiser greatly exceeded expectations.
A total of 1,107 nonprofits received a grand total of 44,509 individual donations, indicating a wide variety of community support for all types of causes. Four nonprofits raised over one million dollar each this year: Gigi’s, Columbus Museum of Art, The Ohio State University Foundation, and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Ohio.
The Big Give has taken place in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2020. Collectively, these five events have raised $84.7 million for Central Ohio nonprofit organizations.
For more information, visit columbusfoundation.org.